The corruption-impunity binary is the backbone that determines political decisions, trapping the country in misery, social injustice and crime. To reassure the population, Prime Minister Garry Conille must send clear signals
After decades of bad governance, the country is collapsing. The Haitian population suffers the criminal acts of armed gangs while the timid public authorities admit their total helplessness by imploring the intervention of a foreign force, aid which is slow to come.
Disillusioned, the population has stopped believing in governments which, although successive, have displayed the same cruel indifference to their demands.
This generalized distrust led her to not believe in the future of the country.
However, any citizen, however disillusioned, must fight apathy and remain committed, particularly in the fight against corruption and impunity.
The preservation of their rights and freedoms, even their survival, is at stake.
Especially since in the absence of legitimate authorities, a Parliament and solid institutions, there is a high risk that the constituted authorities will divert and worsen through their actions the already execrable living conditions of citizens. .
Disillusioned, the population has stopped believing in governments which, although successive, have displayed the same cruel indifference to their demands.
In the current situation, this commitment implies remaining alert from the first decisions taken by the new Prime Minister, head of government and responsible for leading the nation’s policy.
The first signals launched by the highest authorities of the State were not very reassuring: the non-publication of the political agreement establishing and functioning of the Presidential Council of the Transition (CPT) opens the way to arbitrary and seems to hide an intention to act outside the stipulations of the said agreement, an intention which was also revealed by the non-respect of the method of decision-making based on consensus by members of the CPT, puppets of certain groups who maneuvered to control the Council; the removal of certain safeguards among the criteria for access to the highest political offices; the integration of controversial figures, such as former senior civil servants and ministers associated with the recent failure of the deposed Government.
Added to this is the mode of arrangement or negotiation which led to the choice of members of the government and which encourages local corruption.
Politics still has its reasons that reason ignores. Decision-makers are floundering without resistance in a corrupt political ecosystem.
Should we still remember the harms of these practices characterized by corruption?
Through their effects, the State becomes the place of particular interests and small groups, where everyone serves themselves instead of serving the population. The State is therefore commodified and is no more than a “vector of redistribution and not of the creation of wealth or development”.
The non-publication of the political agreement relating to the creation and functioning of the Presidential Council of the Transition (CPT) opens free rein to arbitrariness and seems to hide an intention to act outside the stipulations of the said agreement.
The corollary of this corruption, which pollutes everything, is impunity which, itself, entrenches bad practices and seals the omnipresence of the corrupt in the spheres of power.
The latter have a great capacity to sneak into the inner circle of public authorities with a view to parasitizing them.
This is how the corruption-impunity binary is the backbone that determines political decisions, trapping the country in misery, social injustice and crime. It is therefore in this context that the Prime Minister, newly appointed by the CPT following consensus, formed his government.
To reassure the population, the Prime Minister must curb the domination of corruption in the country’s governance. He must first carry out a rigorous screening of his collaborators if he wants to guarantee the integrity of his team.
To achieve this, the preconditions defined by the legislation and the agreement creating the CPT, although essential, are not sufficient due to the failure of justice, the supervisory bodies, and the moral crisis faced by society. .
The corollary of this corruption, which pollutes everything, is impunity which, itself, entrenches bad practices and seals the omnipresence of the corrupt in the spheres of power.
Obtaining discharge from the management of public funds being currently an impossible formality, it will be necessary, during this exceptional period of unconstitutionality, to innovate to put in place anti-corruption mechanisms.
Thus, it would be necessary, for example, for people who have previously held a high position, to obtain: a report from the Superior Court of Auditors and Administrative Disputes (CSCCA) making it possible to evaluate their management of public funds, a verification of compliance with the requirement for a declaration of assets, a declaration of no conflict of interest in relation to the public institutions that they would be called upon to manage (APN, BNC, ONA, FNE, FDI, OFATMA etc.).
In addition, it would be necessary to carry out a local investigation and take into account public denunciations of mismanagement by certain individuals in order to clean up the political environment.
As for people who have not previously held a high public office, they must comply with the legal requirements for their appointment.
Unfortunately, until now, legal requirements for detecting and preventing corruption have been pushed aside without much reaction from society.
A local investigation should be conducted and the public denunciations of mismanagement by certain individuals should be taken into account in order to clean up the political environment.
The countdown has already begun for this transitional government.
The ambient wait-and-see attitude and the weariness of displaced, bereaved, traumatized, impoverished and hungry citizens using their meager resources for their survival, are profitable for the Prime Minister and offer him a certain latitude to act without real popular constraint.
Deprived of their right to life, citizens show little concern for the fight against corruption. And paradoxically, he is sometimes a corrupter or a potential corrupter, since the act of corruption is sought as an individual lifeline in this collective shipwreck.
The citizen then becomes (admittedly to a lesser degree than public decision-makers) an actor in his own destruction, dragging the entire country in his wake.
Read also: Ordinary citizens, major buyers of weapons in Haiti
To escape this dire fate, the Government must quickly restore security, protect lives and property in order to restore the citizen’s dignity, rights and duties, and allow him to play his role as watchdog and policy seeker.
Because it is only under the non-compliant gaze of the citizen and through a fear of his sanction that the public authorities will work to accomplish their missions.
► Par Dr. Joseph Stéphane Michel, A senior physician specializing in obstetrics and gynecology, he is co-author of “Mieux comprendre le Doppler en Obstétrique”. Founding member and deputy secretary of “Nou Pap Dòmi”, he actively campaigns within this structure to clean up politics, fighting against corruption, impunity and for social justice.
Cover image: Prime Minister Garry Conille accompanied by his ministerial cabinet at the first council of ministers chaired by the Presidential Transitional Council (CPT), at the Villa d’Accueil, Wednesday June 19, 2024. | © X/Prime Minister of the Republic
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